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Thursday, July 18, 2024

CHOCOLATE PICNIC CAKE: Retro Ad with Recipe

Summertime and the living is easy! Time for a Picnic. Here's a Retro Ad with Recipe for Chocolate Picnic Cake. I love the directions, especially concerns for baking in warm weather (not a lot of air-conditioned houses at the time this appeared). This is a great basic cake recipe for a picnic or any time!



Wednesday, July 17, 2024

PEACH ICE CREAM BROWNIE MUD PIE: Peach Ice Cream Day

Today is Peach Ice Cream Day. To celebrate the day, you can pour chocolate sauce over peach ice cream topped with fresh peaches. But to take it up a notch, make this great recipe from Land O Lakes. Don't forget that there are some wonderful recipes on food sites. I love this one!

PEACH ICE CREAM BROWNIE MUD PIE

Ingredients 

Brownie 

1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened 
1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened baking chocolate, melted 
1 large egg 
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

Filling
 
1 cup thick chocolate fudge sauce
1 quart peach ice cream, slightly softened 

Garnish 

Thick chocolate fudge sauce
Peach slices, if desired

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch pie plate with no-stick cooking spray; set aside. 

Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add chocolate and egg. Continue beating until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder; beat at low speed until well mixed. 

Spread batter into prepared pie plate. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges just begin to pull away from sides of pan. (Do not overbake.) Cool 1 hour. 

Spread thick fudge sauce over cooled brownie. Spread softened ice cream over topping. Cover; freeze 4 hours or until firm.  

Cut into wedges while frozen. Drizzle each serving with fudge sauce and garnish with sliced fresh peaches.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CRUMBLE: National Cherry Day!


Today is National Cherry Day! Fresh cherries
are in the markets and all the roadside stands, so I thought I'd make a Crumble. Here's an easy Chocolate Cherry Crumble recipe. Of course, there are so many different "crumble" toppings you can use. This dessert is very forgiving, so feel free to play with the ingredients.

Chocolate Cherry Crumble

Ingredients

Topping
1 cup walnut halves, chopped  (you can substitute almonds)
7 Tbsp unsalted, cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

Fruit
About 25 or so fresh cherries, pitted and sliced in half
2 Tbsp local honey
Zest of 1 orange
1 -1 /2 to 2 oz. 65%-75% dark chocolate (bittersweet chocolate), broken into chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350
Mix cherries, honey, chocolate, and orange zest in mixing bowl.
Distribute cherry/chocolate mixture on the bottom of 8 inch pie pan (lightly buttered)

Make Topping: Combine 1 cup flour and sugar. Add the pieces of butter and chopped nuts. With your hands, mash up butter and combine into a loose dough. Break into small pieces and sprinkle mixture evenly over the top of cherry/chocolate mixture. You don't have to use all of the topping.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Crumble should be golden brown, but not burnt. Serve warm.

Alternative Crumble Topping (delicious)
1 cup flour
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
8 ounces unsalted butter
1 Tbs cinnamon
Combine  flour, sugar, butter, and cinnamon until blended and beginning to gather into small balls. Break into small pieces and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the cherry/chocolate mixture.

Monday, July 15, 2024

BEYOND BOBA: TAPIOCA USES & VINTAGE TAPIOCA ADS

Today is National Pudding Tapioca Day. I posted a recipe for Kicked Up Chocolate Tapioca Pudding on Tapioca Day, so I thought I'd write a little more about Tapioca. 

When I was growing up, tapioca was a once a week dessert. It was not a favorite, but times and recipes have changed, and it may have been how my mother prepared it. If you're into boba or bubble tea--all the rage now--know that it is made with big pearl tapioca. That tapioca starch turns into a chewy gummy ball when cooked.

But what is Tapioca? I consulted Spruce Eats for answers.

Tapioca has a neutral flavor and strong gelling power, making it effective as a thickening agent in both sweet and savory foods. Unlike cornstarch, tapioca can withstand a freeze-thaw cycle without losing its gel structure or breaking down, making it an ideal thickener in ice cream recipes.

Varieties 

Tapioca starch (from the cassava plant) can be purchased as flour or instant flakes; it's opaque prior to cooking but turns translucent upon hydration. Tapioca pearls and powders are most often white or off-white, but the pearls, frequently used in desserts, can be dyed to just about any color. Tapioca pearls come in large and small sizes. Boba are large sweetened pearls often dyed black and used for bubble tea. 

Tapioca Uses 

Traditional uses for tapioca include tapioca pudding, bubble or boba tea, and other candies and desserts. Both tapioca pudding and boba tea are made with pearled tapioca, or small balls of tapioca starch that turn into a chewy, gummy ball when cooked. In addition, tapioca adds body to soups, sauces, and gravies; it has more thickening power and generally costs less than flour and other thickeners. Tapioca can be added to ground meat products, such as burger patties and chicken nuggets, as a binder and ingredient stabilizer. It traps moisture in a gel, so it's often added to baked goods to prevent the pastry from becoming soggy during storage. Tapioca is a common ingredient in gluten-free products because it helps lighten the texture and maintain moisture in the absence of gluten. 

How to Cook With Tapioca 

Tapioca pearls must be soaked for up to 12 hours and then cooked in boiling liquid to form a gel. Quick-cooking or instant tapioca, with a more granular texture, can be whisked into soups, gravies, jams and jellies, pie fillings, and other creamy concoctions to act as a thickener. Tapioca flour can be used in place of other flours and as a 1:1 replacement for cornstarch. 

What Does It Taste Like?

Tapioca does not have much flavor on its own, but when sweetened and added to desserts such as pudding, it adds texture and heft. The lack of flavor is an advantage when it's used to thicken savory dishes such as soups and gravies. 

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TAPIOCA has been around for a long time. Here are some great Retro/Vintage Advertisements for Tapioca. Some even have recipes! Let me know if you try any!